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In order to do business in the state of Texas, you must have a business license. This is also a requirement in order to do business with any local or federal government organization. For this reason, the office of the Texas Secretary of State provides verification services directly through its website.

1.

Ask the business owner for a copy of the business license.

2.

Find the document number, which is located at the bottom left of the license document.

3.

Open the Certificate Validation page on the Texas Secretary of State for Texas website.

4.

Enter the document number and click the "Validate" button. If the license is valid, the system will confirm the document number belongs to the business owner.

Things Needed

Computer with Internet access

Tip

Certificates created in connection with the Texas trademark registration process or UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) filings cannot be verified through the website. To check on these, contact the Texas Secretary of State office at SOSDirect@sos.state.tx.us or 512-475-2755.

References (1)

Resources (2)

About the Author

Working as a full-time freelance writer/editor for the past two years, Bradley James Bryant has over 1500 publications on eHow, LIVESTRONG.com and other sites. She has worked for JPMorganChase, SunTrust Investment Bank, Intel Corporation and Harvard University. Bryant has a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Florida A&M University.

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Zedcor Wholly Owned/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images

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James, Bradley. "How to Verify a Business License." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/verify-business-license-399.html. Accessed 22 February 2019.

James, Bradley. (n.d.). How to Verify a Business License. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/verify-business-license-399.html

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